A few days ago, I saw a friend write about his philosophy of how to keep going when you’re not feeling very motivated. I liked the thought process he approached with it, but the nature of things like this is that no one can ever truly give you a one size fits all solution. Which is why I’m writing this post today. To remind people (including myself) of a very simple way to practice consistency and keep yourself accountable for thing.
I won't be the first, or second or even the third person that surfaces anyone’s mind if they were making a list of consistent people, but I think that recently, I haven’t done too bad myself when it came to showing up. The number one thing that truly matters and will have an effect on your desire or commitment to be consistent, as I've noticed lately is how tethered you are to your goals, and the implications of bailing on them.
Consequences or “taxes” can be very powerful motivations
Every time you want to stay to keep yourself accountable to your progress, you need to consider the taxes you'll pay if you slack. If you don't have a lot to lose for not staying committed, you more than likely won't. So ask yourself
Why are you hitting the gym? Is it for health? To look better? To feel better?
Why do you have to read a book everyday? Because your friends are readers? To learn from the experience of people you want to become? You have an English exam coming up?
Why should you meditate? To practice mindfulness? Cos people are doing it and you think it’s cool?
In each of these cases, consider what would happen if you didn’t do what you intended to do. Parents wake up early to work jobs they're not super excited about because the tax is that their family will suffer if they don't.
Often times we lose motivation to do the things we say we want to do because we lose sight of our whys, or they're just not strong enough. In either of these cases, your resolve will crumble.
I didn't plan to write a post today cos I wasn't motivated. But why I still did it anyways was because I remembered my why for being consistent again, and I understood that the consequence of not writing for just one day could be a trigger of my procrastination which could send me back to my days of zero energy for writing.
When you’re working towards something, the universe has a way of sabotaging it with friction. I don’t think this is bad. I think that this is necessary to separate which people want something just because from which people deserve it and should get it. Think of it like a weeding out process. A selection process of sorts. Every time you allow a lack of motivation hold you back, remember that you're being weeded out by natural selection.
So everyday it feels like you’re not motivated, go back to your wall of questions. Do all your whys, because your those will be your reminder to lock back in.
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